Air Force Academy
San Diego St
Kaercher's complete game beats San Diego State, 8-7
5/3/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 3, 2002
Senior Matt Kaercher threw a complete game and Air Force scored two in the bottom of the eighth for an 8-7 win over league-leading San Diego State in a Mountain West Conference game Friday, May 3, at the Academy's Falcon Field.
Kaercher threw his sixth complete game of the season, the most in the MWC, as he threw a career-best 173 pitches. He gave up seven runs, all earned, on 11 hits with seven strikeouts and five walks. Kaercher improved to 7-7 overall in his league-leading 16th start of the season.
Air Force improved to 23-22 overall and 10-11 in the MWC. The Falcons equaled their number of wins from last season. The 10 conference wins are the most in seven years and tied as the fourth most in school history. SDSU, in first place by five games, is now 35-17 overall and 16-6 in the league. Two of the Aztecs' six conference losses this season are to Air Force.
SDSU took a 2-0 lead with single runs in the first and third. Tabor Lee led off the game with a double down the right-field line and scored after two groundouts in the first inning. Lee singled through the right side in the third and scored on Jake McLintock's single.
The Falcons scored six in the fourth for a 6-2 lead. Steve Winters' triple drove in a run and Adam Howes had a two-run single through the left side with the bases loaded. Josh Phifer then hit a two-run home run to right-center field, his team-leading 11th bomb of the season. The Aztecs came back to take the lead with two in the fifth and three in the sixth. In the fifth, Anthony Gwynn singled and scored on a Falcon error. McLintock again drove in Lee to make the score 6-4. Three walks and two singles led to three runs in the sixth and a 7-6 Aztec lead. Josh Hill drew a bases-loaded walk while McLintock had another RBI single.
After Air Force's six-run fourth inning, Aztec pitcher Joe Carque replaced starter Chris Dunwell. He retired nine of the first 11 Falcons he faced, allowing just two singles with six strikeouts. But in the eighth, the Falcon bats came back to life. With two outs in the bottom of the eighth, pinch hitter Brian Gornick drew a walk, the only free pass issued by Carque. Back-to-back doubles by Howes and Tony Shockley gave the Falcons an 8-7 lead.
In the top of the ninth, Kaercher struck out McLintock and then walked Jon Stephens. Kaercher forced Rielly Embry and Chad Corona to fly out to end the game.
The Aztecs out-hit the Falcons, 11-10 in the game. Howes, Shockley and Winters each had two hits for the Falcons. Howes drove in three while Phifer drove in two. Lee led the Aztecs by going 4-for-4 with four runs scored. McLintock was 3-for-5 with four RBI. Carque took the loss. He went three and two-thirds, allowing two earned runs on four hits with six strikeouts.
Air Force and San Diego State resume the series with game two Saturday, May 4, at noon at Falcon Field. The series concludes Sunday at 1 p.m.
--30-
